Abstract
THE abuse potential of marihuana has been widely debated as the use of the drug has increased in Western countries. Overton1 has suggested that the abuse potential of various drugs may parallel their capacity for producing “state-dependent” effects in animals and man. State-dependent or “dissociated” learning refers to a phenomenon observed in animal and human studies wherein certain behaviour learned in particular drug states transfers more readily when the same drug state is reintroduced than if subsequent testing occurs under the influence of another drug or in a non-drug state2–8. This phenomenon has been demonstrated primarily with sedative and hypnotic drugs, such as barbiturates and alcohol, which are relatively susceptible to abuse. In general, drugs with little abuse potential (for example phenothiazines) dissociate weakly or not at all1.
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HILL, S., SCHWIN, R., POWELL, B. et al. State-dependent Effects of Marihuana on Human Memory. Nature 243, 241–242 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1038/243241a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/243241a0
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